Ohio Art says Etch A Sketch creator dies in France

BRYAN, Ohio (AP) – An Ohio toy maker said the inventor of the Etch A Sketch, the famous red toy that generations of children drew on, shook up and started over, has died in France.

Ohio Art Co., based in Bryan in northwest Ohio, said 86-year-old Andre Cassagnes died Jan. 16 in a Paris suburb. The cause wasn’t disclosed Saturday.

Ohio Art president Larry Killgallon said the company will always be grateful for an invention that brought joy to so many.

The Toy Industry Association said Cassagnes came upon the Etch A Sketch idea in the late 1950s. He peeled a translucent decal from a light switch plate and found pencil mark images transferred to the opposite face.

The toy, with its gray screen and red frame, has two knobs that are twisted to create drawings. A shake erases the image.